The Cincinnati Reds were everywhere at baseball’s Winter Meetings, and we (me plus Jason Linden) discussed all of it: every trade, every signing, every rumor…and there were a ton of them. It’s the longest-ever episode of RNR, but it’s packed with positivity. This was a fun one. Enjoy!
Follow us on Twitter: @redlegradio. Music for this episode provided by Freekbass, a big Reds fan and a friend of Redleg Nation.
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I think you guys are too quick to give up Taylor trammel. The reds would need to add about 20 WAR to compete for the playoffs in 2019. I just don’t see it. Maybe 2020 but if you’d acquired realmuto and/or stroman you’d only have them for that year and be stuck with an expensive likely declining Keuchel. Inciarte you’re overpaying for defense you dont need.
Re: Trammel + Barnhart for J.T. Realmuto discussion: Hard pass. The fact that Realmuto is the best catcher in baseball to me is evidence of a severe lack of talent available at the position. If the Reds are willing to trade Trammel, I think they need to improve the team by more than ~2-3 WAR, and need more than 2 seasons of control. Of the names we’ve seen, I think Syndergaard and Kluber are guys I’d trade Trammel for. Adding a 5WAR pitcher (for 3 years) to replace a negative WAR pitcher makes a huge difference, but converting a ~1.5WAR catcher for a ~4WAR catcher (for 2 years) is not enough improvement to push the Reds into contention.
I actually think Reds should trade Trammel, specifically because the names on the trade market excite me more than the ones on free agent market (in terms of both on-field performance and contract.) Senzel is needed in near term. If they can pull off a Kluber deal headlined by Trammel, and another deal with Dodgers for Alex Wood, and keep Senzel in the fold, the Reds have a division contender. 2020 would provide a challenge again with 2 starters headed to free agency, but with the $20M falling off from Roark/Wood and the Bailey contract gone, they would have the funds needed for another free agent or trade target.
If the Reds had a true #1 for the next 3 years, could they start pulling off Roark deals every year? Find a 3rd year ARB eligible pitcher that another team is willing to flip for a 5-10 range prospect to save money? This sounds like a market inefficiency they have exploited and should continue to exploit to fill out the 3rd/4th SP slots every year.
This is good stuff. Jason’s impression of Thom introducing Josh Harrison had me cracking up!
Sorry Chad/Jason …Not giving up Trammel for 4 years of anybody short of Mike Trout right now ..Pollock does not cost us anything but money .. Use the money we suddenly have and hang on to our prospects .